Allegiant Air to offer flights from Pease to Florida

PORTSMOUTH — Allegiant Air announced Tuesday it is bringing passenger service back to Portsmouth International Airport at Pease. The commercial airline will offer flights to and from Sanford, Fla., beginning Oct. 25.

Comment

By Charles McMahon

seacoastonline.com

By Charles McMahon

Posted Aug. 20, 2013 at 6:49 AM
Updated Aug 20, 2013 at 4:12 PM

By Charles McMahon

Posted Aug. 20, 2013 at 6:49 AM
Updated Aug 20, 2013 at 4:12 PM

» Social News

PORTSMOUTH — Allegiant Air announced Tuesday it is bringing passenger service back to Portsmouth International Airport at Pease. The commercial airline will offer flights to and from Sanford, Fla., beginning Oct. 25.

Allegiant, which served Pease in the past, ending in 2007, says it will offer fares as low as $99 roundtrip or $69 one way as a promotional rate. The flights will operate twice weekly, at 6:30 p.m. on Fridays and Mondays, between Portsmouth and Orlando-Sanford International Airport.

The airport in Sanford is located about a 30-minute drive from Orlando and about a 60-minute drive from Disney World.

“We are pleased to return to Portsmouth to provide affordable and convenient travel options to residents,” said Andrew C. Levy, Allegiant Travel Company president.

David Mullen, executive director for the Pease Development Authority, said the process of bringing Allegiant back to Pease was a full-time effort, including trips to Las Vegas to visit with officials as well as offering a “no fee” incentive to the airline.

“Allegiant is a very successful airline and we are really excited to have them bring scheduled service to Portsmouth, I am confident that with convenient and affordable flights to Florida the service will be very popular,” said Mullen.

The “no-fee” incentive allows the airline to reduce its operating costs, he said.

Mullen said the Pease airport is in talks with other airlines as well.

“We felt we should lead off with (Allegiant),” he said.

Airport consultant Dan Fortnam said the business relationship between Pease and Allegiant has been roughly 2½ years in the making.

Fortnam, who was hired by the PDA to entice passenger service back to Pease, said the goal moving forward is to expand the relationship with Allegiant and attract more services to the airport.

“We'll start with Florida and see where it goes from there,” he said.

The $99 roundtrip promotional fare will be available for three days and must be purchased by Aug. 22, Allegiant said. Subsequent introductory fares will start at $69 one way and will be available until Aug. 27. Reservations can be made at www.allegiant.com or by calling (702) 505-8888.

Tickets will go on sale at the local air terminal on Friday.

Eric Fletcher, manager of airport operations for Allegiant, said the company is excited to return to Pease.

“We're stoked about this service,” he said.

Fletcher said the airline will continue to offer affordable ticket prices, even after the introductory fares. “We're known for our shockingly low fares,” he said.

Allegiant began seasonal service from Pease to Orlando/Sanford Airport in October 2005. Passenger numbers from October 2005 to September 2006 totaled 41,504 with four flights per week, while November 2006 to April 2007 reflected 10,366 passengers flying two flights per week.

Since it was certified as a commercial airport in 1992, the Pease airport has been home to five airlines ranging from Business Express early on to Pan Am and most recently Skybus, which ceased operations in 2008.

The last attempt to secure a passenger service in September 2011 failed to get off the ground, however. Streamline LLC was slated to be the first commercial carrier at the airport since Skybus. It announced plans for initial service between Portsmouth and Trenton, N.J., and potentially to Atlantic City, N.J., but ended up backing out of the deal.